At the beginning of Psalm 44, the congregation of Israel acknowledges that the nation owes its existence to God, who had placed them in the Promised Land. God was responsible for all of their military victories; they could not claim credit for any of them (vv 1-8).
Recently, the nation had suffered defeat at enemy hands, and the sovereign God was also ultimately responsible for those events (vv 9-16).
At this point the congregation asserts its loyalty to God (vv 17-22), making this psalm stand apart from others. There are individual laments in which the psalmist states his loyalty (e.g., Psalm 17), but this is the only communal lament of this type. Those who represent God sometimes suffer setbacks. In a sinful world, bad things can happen to good nations.
The congregation concludes by boldly petitioning God to come to its aid (vv 23-26). They are confident in his loving faithfulness to his covenant.
Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36. Paul and his colleagues often suffered persecution in their efforts to spread the Gospel, but Paul confidently stated that nothing could separate them from the love of Christ (vv 35-39). All things would work together for good (v 28).
